Kevin van Zonneveld: It’s Almost 2014 and We Are Still Committing Broken Code

Kevin van Zonneveld: It’s Almost 2014 and We Are Still Committing Broken Code

Kevin van Zonneveld has a new post that, while not PHP specific, does have a handy script that will help you stop committing broken code.

Whatever the reason, it’s almost 2014 and we are still committing broken code. This needs to stop because best case: Travis or Jenkins prevent those errors from hitting production and it’s frustrating to go back and revert/redo that stuff. A waste of your time and state of mind, you were already working on other things. Worst case: your error goes unnoticed and hits production.

To help resolve the problem, he suggests using the “hook” system common to most version control software. In his specific example, he shows the use of a pre-commit hook that fires off a bash script on the files being committed. He includes the full code for this bash script that includes a check for PHP scripts using the built in PHP linter (the “-l” option on the command line). He also includes the commands and updates you’ll need to make to get it installed on git.